The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), which is not available on DVD and appears on the TCM schedule occasionally, is an Ernst Lubitsch silent that may have been a romantic peak for Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer, and, perhaps, the American silent cinema. Novarro, playing a Ruritanian prince whose life has been constricted by his royal destiny, finds freedom, friendship and his humanity when he is sent to Heidelberg for his higher education by his stern King (Gustav von Seyffertitz).
While I have enjoyed Ramon Novarro's Ben-Hur and some of his early sound work as well as his late career appearances on tv, I don't think that his gentle sweetness, boyish diffidence, and eager, almost Gene Kellyish smile were ever put to better use on film than they were in this film. His performance is so winning that it's a pleasure to see it matched beautifully by a seemingly relaxed--for once--Norma Shearer, who plays a simple common girl working as a barmaid at the inn where the student prince lodges. Her warmth and generosity of spirit melt away any awkwardness Novarro's character might've felt in his unfamiliar surroundings.
The Prince is also helped enormously by the reassuring presence of his childhood teacher, Jean Hersholt, whose shambling bear of a tutor encourages the boy's curiosity about the world outside himself. Despite Hersholt's initial concern when he sees that Prince Karl Heinrich has fallen in with a very boisterous student drinking society, in a beautifully staged scene, he too is swept up in the bonhomie that permeates Heidelberg.
Jean Hersholt, (above, right, with Shearer & Novarro), gives a wonderfully endearing performance throughout the film, building the viewer's affection for him through such details as the ashes constantly on his suit, his hiding his cigars and his affectionate scenes with the Prince, as well as his resigned attitude toward the ways of the royal world.
The good-natured quality of the film carries over to other detailed scenes centering on the inn. One particular favorite is when Shearer, dancing with Novarro in a large rambunctious crowd, sees a customer at the bar waiting impatiently for a refill of his beer. She dances over to him, nimbly fills his beer mug, scrapes the foam off the top, makes change for him, accepts a tip deftly, and takes up the dance once again, without losing a beat.
Lubitsch, whose sophisticated appreciation for love's roundelay is legendary, uses his actors deftly, almost delicately in some scenes. One memorable moment, set on a beautifully studio-created starry night in spring, occurs when the Prince and the Girl realize that they love one another amid a field of flowers. We know it's all pretend and artifice in front of us, but can't help being swept up in the moment.
Cliché? Perhaps, but rarely done with such style. The scene is also paced beautifully. The filmmaker doesn't linger too long on the moment, but, refreshingly, as they part, Novarro watches Shearer run down the hill toward the inn and the girl turns and waves once toward her love. We in the audience, almost expect her to turn once more to reconnect with him, but, wisely, Lubitsch has her turn away and dash inside, leaving us tantalized and satisfied as well. We, like the couple, have been brought to a moment of shared happiness with the boy and girl. We then watch the Prince lie back for only a moment on the grass and close his eyes in bliss--with just an edge of longing still in the air.
It's as though the director realized that, like many moments of great happiness, the fleeting nature of such realizations can't and shouldn't be forced or prolonged. I'm sure that the effect of this scene is better viewed than described by me, but it just struck me that this sequence, among many, was very well done.
Later in the film, when the Prince returns to Heidelberg after his reluctant ascension to the throne, we see that the world inevitably changes, though Kathi (Norma Shearer) still loves Karl Heinrich. She puts into words what both characters, (and the audience), know in their hearts: they will live on, finding some happiness again, but what they had cannot be replayed. In a sense, this is the real education that the Student Prince has acquired in Heidelberg.
As the film ends, we see Novarro, in his wedding carriage (we never see the face of his noble bride), waving to the crowd of well-wishers, lost in his own private thoughts, as one of the couples in the crowd ask each other, "Wouldn't it be wonderful to be a King?"
Re: The Student Prince Musical
Carl Davis' 1980's composed score for this film is delightful and, while it seems odd that such a famous musical should've been made into a silent film, I wonder if it really could have been done better with sound? I must admit that I avoided seeing this film in the past because I was so put off by the 1950's rendition of the beautifully melodic Sigmund Romberg musical The Student Prince (1954) that I'd once seen. That starred an unfortunately awkward Edmund Purdom (who is dubbed by Mario Lanza, a singer whose voice grates on my ear) & Ann Blyth (with her own pleasing soprano). Perhaps I'd enjoy this later movie more now, but I don't think that it could possibly match this silent one.
A wonderful review. There is at least one glaring omission in your detailed description of the evening love sequence, but perhaps you kept that out deliberately? So I will not reveal it here. 
Ernst Lubitsch THE STUDENT PRINCE, or as the Main title actually reads OLD HEIDELBERG, has long been one of my favorite Silent films. I desperately would like to see this picture fully restored to it's past glory. I do not consider the worn down 20 year old Thames edition TCM ran Monday morning as restored! The transfer is very soft, not nearly as sharp as it could be, and the film has allot of artifacts, and blotches. The majority of which, can probably be removed? 
The older Thames edition of FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926) looked about the same, if not worse, before it was re-mastered and released on DVD as part of the Garbo Silent's TCM Archives Box set a couple years ago! The difference in the new-master of FLESH AND THE DEVIL was truly remarkable! So I know for certain that OLD HEIDELBERG can be made to look at least as good! 
I was somewhat surprised when Robert Osborne stated that this movie was considered by most people to be Ramon Novarro's finest film? Even ahead of Fred Niblo's 1925 production of BEN HUR! I had never heard this said before. 
Though both Novarro, and Norma Shearer give highly memorable performances as Karl Heinrich, and Kathi The Beer Maiden respectively, it is Jean Hersholt, who virtually steals the Movie, as the beloved mentor of The Prince Dr. Juttner. In my opinion, Hersholt should have been nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actor the first year of the Academy Awards! What's more, in my mind He unquestionably deserved to win! 
This film is a true Masterpiece of Cinema, every bit the equal of any of Lubitsch later sound films of the 30's and 40's. For this reason alone, a DVD release is an absolute necessity! The best bet is probably for the film to be included in a future Norma Shearer Collection. If so, I would hope that the phenomenal Carl Davis score is retained. As it arguably represents his greatest work!
